Nearly 70% of manufacturing CEOs who have invested in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies within the last year have seen a significant ROI in key areas such as supply chain management, quality control and procurement, according to the new American Manufacturing Resilience quarterly survey by Forbes, Xometry and John Zogby Strategies.
“Our latest quarterly survey shows us that AI and reshoring go hand-in-hand,” says Randy Altschuler, Xometry CEO. “As reshoring continues to accelerate, CEOs are using AI to create locally resilient supply chains, simplify procurement and streamline their operations. This reinforces the fact that American manufacturing increasingly is the new high-tech industry, requiring sophisticated tools and talent as companies look to bolster industry here at home.”
Key takeaways:
- The overwhelming majority (76%) of CEOs said they are deploying AI in supply chain management, followed by procurement (71%), quality control (47%) and automation (37%). Nearly all CEOs surveyed said AI will play a role in their company in the next 1-2 years. Those CEOs who have yet to see a return on their investment in AI are unanimous in their confidence that AI will deliver much-needed financial, workflow and other benefits in the near future.
- Three-quarters (76%) of CEOs have successfully reshored some or all of their overseas facilities or are in the process of doing so. That figure is up significantly from the 48% of CEOs in Q3 who said they are in the process of reshoring and up from 35% in Q2. Eighty-three percent of CEOs say the health of American manufacturing depends on reshoring.
- However, CEOs remain worried about attracting highly skilled talent. More than half (56%) of CEOs said they struggle finding qualified employees in today’s tight labor market. Additionally, nearly half (47%) of CEOs said they plan to hire additional employees in the near future with the other half (51%) maintaining existing staffing levels.
- Nearly three-fourths (70%) of respondents said they are on track to beat last year’s sales, and nearly two-thirds (65%) said the future remains bright. Still, executives are concerned about "black swan“ events, including international conflict, banking instability and other unforeseen events, such as another pandemic.
- Ninety percent say they are likely to raise prices again before the end of the year, on top of the 80% who have already done so this year.
